by Lacey Thorn
“Shhh,” she crooned. “We’re okay.” At least she hoped they were. No Angel. No hunters. In fact, it was eerily quiet.
“We need to go,” Zane said as if reading her thoughts. “I need to find the one who brought you here. Jesus!” He shook his head in disgust. “I can’t believe I took you on the fucking ground while there are hunters around us! I just hope the asshole who put his scent on you is okay… so I can kill him.” He sounded reserved and there was still a touch of anger in his voice.
“Angel didn’t hurt me,” she promised. “He said you would need me and brought me here. He was already tracking the hunters when he came across me.”
Zane slowly stood and his eyes shone a deep, dark neon gold. “We’ll discuss just how he found you later. I’m still on edge and neither of us needs another round of fucking at the moment. Not here. Not now.” He shook his head then focused on her again. “Are you okay? I’d never forgive myself if I hurt you.”
“I’m fine,” she tried to assure him. “Are you okay?”
“The fever is still burning in me. Now that I’ve tasted you, I should have known I wouldn’t be able to leave you. Not with the heat on you. Even after just having you, my dick is hard and aching behind my zipper.”
She dropped her gaze and gasped at the blatant display of his aroused cock.
“Again?”
One corner of his mouth quirked up. “Always when you’re in heat. I’d stay inside you if I could. I owe this guy a thank you, and instead, I’m going to struggle not to rip his fucking head off his shoulders.”
A battle between Angel and Zane was not something she wanted to witness.
“Why are you angry with him?”
Zane glared down at her. “Because his scent was all fucking over you. What did he do? Rub his hair and face against you?”
At her nod, his chest rumbled and his canines flashed.
“You can’t kill him,” Diane said quickly.
“If you defend him to me, he’s a dead man,” Zane warned.
“He knew you would need me. He said you would be distracted because of the feral cat fever and that you would need me to help hold yourself together.”
Zane nodded but said nothing.
“I think he rubbed his head against me to make sure you stayed here with me, out of danger. He warned me to keep you with me no matter what it took.”
“Kenzie,” Zane grunted. “Stay…” His words trickled off at the glare she gave him and with a shake of his head, he held out his hand to her. “Stay on my ass and obey my every command.”
“What is it with you guys and obedience? And staying on your asses?”
“What?” He turned angry eyes on her again, and she gulped. Shit. He probably didn’t need to know about her trip here with Angel.
“Kenzie,” she said instead and nudged his shoulder to get him going.
He glared for a moment then thankfully turned and began walking. She looked away as they walked past the man Zane had killed. She felt no guilt over what her mate had done, but she didn’t want to view it close up. The smell of blood grew stronger in her nostrils the closer they got.
“Holy shit!” she exclaimed as they approached a cabin.
There were bodies lying everywhere. Zane had snapped the neck of the guy who came after him. Angel had shredded the men he’d fought. She gagged as she took it all in. Two of them had been disemboweled. She began to glance around, seeing if there was anyone still alive who might need her help. One guy moaned and she started to head toward him.
“Leave him.” Angel’s hard voice carried to her from the doorway where he stood cradling a naked Kenzie against his bare chest.
Zane’s chest rumbled as he moved toward her. It would probably be a good idea not to let her mate know she’d watched Angel shift. She waved Zane off as she moved toward Angel and Kenzie.
“Is she hurt?” she asked.
Zane was right on her ass now, and the loud growls made her very aware he wasn’t happy that Angel was naked in front of her.
“Stop growling and go get his clothes if you’re that upset.” She turned to Zane. “He left them back by where we were. And don’t start,” she interrupted when he opened his mouth. “I’m drenched in your…” She flushed and cut herself off when the word cum wanted to slip out of her mouth. “Scent,” she finished.
Zane dropped a kiss to her lips, spared a glare for Angel that softened into a look of concern when he took in Kenzie. He inhaled, threw a startled look at Angel and his mouth literally dropped open.
“Yeah,” Angel said as if Zane had asked him a question. “It’s a real clusterfuck. I’d appreciate the clothes or your mate’s going to see a side of me she shouldn’t. I’m on the edge here.”
“Fuck,” Zane almost roared and sprinted back the way they’d come.
“Put her down,” Diane said. “So I can check on her. How long’s she been out?”
“Not long,” Angel mumbled and sat down on the porch step with Kenzie still wrapped in his arms. “They beat her, but it looks like we made it before they got the knives out.”
Kenzie’s face was battered. They’d beat the hell out of her. There was bruising on her breasts, thighs and abdomen, and that was just from the quick scan Diane gave her.
“Are you growling?” Diane asked Angel.
“Yes,” he said through gritted teeth.
Before she could ask anything else, Zane was back with Angel’s clothes and gear. He tossed them down next to Angel and grabbed Diane’s shoulders, turning her away. She heaved a sigh of frustration but complied without complaint. It wasn’t as if she wanted to see any man naked, other than her mate. But now that her mind was a little less focused on lust and sex, she was worried about Kenzie. She glanced beside her and noticed Zane facing Angel, arms crossed over his broad chest, mouth thinned into a hard line.
“You better not be looking at Kenzie,” Diane warned him, her temper rising at the thought.
Zane turned to her with surprise on his face and his mouth quirked up in a smile. “You’re jealous,” he said and she glared. “There’s no need to be. I want you and only you. That will never change.”
“Still doesn’t mean I want you looking at other women naked,” Diane muttered.
Zane smiled wide, the white of his teeth vividly displayed.
He dropped a kiss on her lips, and Diane turned around. Angel had pulled on pants but that was all, and once again, he held Kenzie against his chest.
“It’d be easier for me to check over her if you put her down,” Diane said.
“Not yet,” Angel said softly, and his voice sounded strained. “The bruises you see will heal.”
The way he said it made her think there was a bruise she couldn’t see that maybe wouldn’t. A horrible thought occurred to Diane, and her gaze skirted down Kenzie’s form.
“They didn’t—”
“No,” Angel almost roared, cutting off her question before it could be answered.
“Does she know?” Zane asked.
Angel nodded.
“Did you?” Zane demanded.
“I couldn’t stop myself,” Angel answered softly.
“Then you’re staying?” Zane demanded again.
Angel shook his head and though his eyes never left Kenzie, the sadness he felt was easy to see. “I can’t.”
“Fuck!” Zane exploded. “This is a fine fucking mess.”
“I wasn’t expecting this,” Angel stated angrily.
“I’m betting Kenzie wasn’t, either,” Zane reprimanded. “If you weren’t going to stay, you should have left her alone.”
Angel looked up then, his lips curled back and a growl rumbling from his chest. “Mine!” he snarled.
Oh, God! Angel was Kenzie’s mate? Holy shit! And he wasn’t staying? How the hell would that even be possible?
“You’re going to destroy her,” Zane said softly.
Angel nodded and his eyes dipped closed. “I wasn’t supposed to have a mate. That’s not my li
fe. I hunt. I kill. I save and I avenge. I don’t mate.”
“You just did,” Zane said in a hard voice.
Angel stood, cradling Kenzie high against his chest, and walked back into the cabin with Zane on his heels and Diane trailing behind. She had no idea what to say. She was only newly mated herself. But from everything she’d seen, all that she’d felt so far, she didn’t understand how Angel would be able to walk away and leave Kenzie.
He put Kenzie on a cot in the corner and covered her with a blanket. “She’ll need to rest before you head back.”
He brushed the backs of his fingers down her cheek and sighed with what Diane interpreted as regret. He bent down and kissed Kenzie softly on the lips.
“Watch over her for me.” he ordered Zane, and her mate gave a terse nod.
“You’ve cursed her to spend her life alone,” Zane warned, and Diane gasped.
“No!” she cried before she could stop herself. “Kenzie wants a mate of her own. She wants a family.”
Devastation filled Angel’s eyes before he blinked and the emotion was gone. His shoulders straightened, and he stood tall and emotionless.
“I’ll take care of the bodies then go have a meeting with your alpha. There are things he needs to be aware of.”
“Will you tell him about this?” Zane asked, nodding toward Kenzie.
Angel dropped his glance to Kenzie again. “He should know.” He turned his back on the cot and faced Zane. “I’ll be in touch when I can.” He looked at Diane then back to Zane. “Take care of your mate. She should be taught to defend herself. She’s only as strong as you allow her to be,” he warned.
Diane decided to bite the bullet when Angel didn’t continue. “I opened the door for him.”
A loud growl left Zane’s mouth as he turned to glare at her.
“He made it seem like he knew Tah.” Diane tried to defend herself.
“You should make sure your mate has the ability and the equipment to take care of herself, even when she makes questionable decisions,” Angel told Zane then slipped around them and out the door.
“I’m going to spank your ass, mate,” Zane uttered from between clenched teeth.
Fuck! was all Diane could think, but her sex clenched at the threat.. She was in big trouble, and it excited the hell out of her, which was probably not the response her mate wanted from her.
Chapter Ten
“Tell me what happened,” Zane said, and his voice was low and quiet, sending a shiver up her spine.
“He would have broken it down if I hadn’t.”
“Then let him break the fucking thing down,” Zane snarled. “Don’t open it for him.”
“Shhh,” Diane admonished, pointing toward where Kenzie lay.
Zane lifted his eyebrow, took her arm and pulled her over by the door. “I believe I told you before I left you to keep the door locked and not open it for anyone but me. Did I not?”
She nodded her head. “But—”
“No buts,” he interrupted her. “Except for your lovely one that I’m about to take the palm of my hand to.”
She pressed her backside against the wall as if that would save her. Zane looked really angry. “Angel knew who we were. All of us. He called me by name.”
“And you think a hunter wouldn’t have that information if he needed it? You think he wouldn’t ooze charm and say whatever he needed to get you to open that door?”
She bit her lip and looked up at him, slowly nodding.
“And do you have any idea what they’d do to you?”
She glanced over toward Kenzie. “I have an idea.”
“You have no fucking clue,” he rumbled at her. “Kenzie is a shifter, a dirty, filthy animal. You’re human. One who’s lain with an animal by choice.”
“You’re not an animal,” she scolded.
“Baby, I assure you I’m feeling pretty fucking animalistic where you’re concerned. And never, ever, forget there’s a beast in here with me.”
“How could I?” she whispered and leaned into him. “I love that side of you. I love you. All of you.”
He stilled, cupped her chin and lifted her face to look up at his. “Say it again,” he demanded.
“I love you,” she vowed. “I didn’t realize it until I almost lost you. Not once but twice. I don’t ever want to feel that way again.”
“God, Diane,” he groaned, leaning in and pinning her to the door. “I love you so much, baby. I tried so hard to protect you from me, from what it means to be the mate of a shifter. But the harder I tried to stay away, the more I wanted you until I ached with it.”
“I don’t expect you to have to save me,” she told him. “I just want you with me.”
He dropped his head and kissed her softly. Lips brushed and eased apart for tongues to forage and caress as breathes mingled. For the first time since she’d found him, the lust was tempered and not as overwhelming. She wanted him, but then she suspected she always would.
“Angel’s right about one thing,” Zane admitted.
“What’s that?”
“I need to teach you to defend yourself. I should have done that when I first arrived,” he said.
“Would have been hard to avoid me if you had,” she told him with a smile. “I doubt even then you would have been able to let someone else teach me.”
That sexy growl rumbled in his chest again, and he shook his head.
“I promise I’ll be smarter,” she offered with a sigh of regret. “I’ll listen when you’re telling me things to keep me safe. And I’ll follow your orders. I’m sorry I opened the door, and I’m very grateful it turned out the way it did. I don’t ever want to put myself in the position where I can be used to hurt you.”
“I would kill to save you,” he vowed.
She didn’t point out he already had. She took a deep breath and nodded. “I just don’t want you to die to save me.”
The look in his eyes told her he would, without reservation. She vowed to never place herself in a situation where that might occur.
“Why don’t you go help Angel while I check over Kenzie and keep an eye on her?” Diane suggested. She had a feeling Zane wanted to talk to the other man alone, anyway. “Grab my gear please. I don’t see Kenzie’s, and she’ll need something to wear when we leave.”
Zane nodded. “Lock this door behind me and so help me, you better not open it unless you hear my voice.”
“Promise,” she swore the bit her lip. “What if it’s Angel?”
He lifted a brow and glanced back at Kenzie before sighing. “I don’t think he’ll be back, but yeah, you can open it for him.”
She nodded and leaned up to kiss him on the jaw. He bent down and met her lips with his, taking her under with another kiss that scattered her thoughts.
“I’ll be close by,” he promised.
“I’ll be here.”
“Lock it,” he reminded her, making her grin.
“Go.” She shooed him out and laughed when he turned and faced her with his arms over his chest, one foot tapping. “I’m locking it.”
She shut the door and slid home the bolt. This door only had one. She heard his footsteps walking away and rested heavily against the thick wood. Zane was back, and though she had no idea how long it would take the fever to leave him, she didn’t doubt they’d handle it. Together. She was his mate, and that knowledge made her happier than she’d ever been in her life. She glanced at Kenzie and felt a tug at her heart.
She walked over and gently touched the bruises on Kenzie’s face, checking for any fractured bones that might need to be set before they healed. She moved carefully over Kenzie’s torso, checking her ribs then down to her legs before moving back to her arms and wrists. Nothing broken as far as she could see. She thought she saw some bruising by Kenzie’s neck and gently pushed aside her hair, gasping at what she uncovered.
Is this what Zane had meant when he asked Angel if he had? Diane knew exactly what the fresh mark on Kenzie was. Angel had bitten her at
the base of her neck on the left side. And he was going to leave Kenzie? Mating was for life, as in there would never be another man for Kenzie. So why would he do that to her and leave? The more she sat and thought about it, the angrier she got. She took Kenzie’s hand in hers and squeezed the other woman’s fingers.
She felt as if she and Kenzie had started a friendship on this journey. Kenzie had done what she’d needed to make sure Diane made it to Zane. The other woman had even defied Tah in case he’d decided against them going. No matter what, Diane vowed she’d be there for Kenzie in the future. Zane would understand and support her. She didn’t doubt that for a moment. She would be Kenzie’s friend and defender whether the other woman wanted her to or not. She really hoped Kenzie would want to be her friend, as well.
Zane found a couple of shovels at the back of the cabin and went in search of Angel. He found the man dragging the last body deeper into the woods where he’d obviously decided to bury them. Without speaking, Angel took a shovel from Zane and they began digging. Zane could scent the sadness surrounding the guy, and he felt sorry for the other man.
“Tell me about her,” Angel said.
“I met her in the Marines. She was this little bit of nothing with a heart fiercer than any I’ve ever known. She was quick and quiet, deadly when needed, and they never saw her coming most of the time. She pushed herself harder than any of us, as if she felt she had something to prove because of her size.”
“She’s so tiny,” Angel agreed and Zane had to agree. Compared to the two of them, she was.
“Don’t let her size fool you. She’s strong. I’ve seen her take men our size down before they knew her intentions.”
Angel nodded and leaned on his shovel, raising his head to the sky and taking a deep breath. “She was tied down when I walked in.”
“Already unconscious?” Zane asked.
Angel shook his head. “No. She was awake and mad as hell. I smelled her long before I reached her, but it wasn’t until she screamed that I realized exactly what she meant to me.”
“You should have left then,” Zane said.